...but I do love them.
"The Most Crucial Game" from season 2 of Columbo stars repeat offender Robert Culp as well as Dean Stockwell and Dean Jagger. Stockwell plays Eric, a young playboy who has inherited money and a football team from his late father and is basically interested in spending the money and fooling around when his wife is out of town.
Culp is Paul Hanlon, the manager of the football team and also in charge of building Eric's portfolio. He calls Eric after a wild party and orders him out of bed and into the pool, so that he's ready to fly that evening to look at a hockey team in Canada.
Paul goes to great lengths to get over to Eric's house and kill him during the game, and yet seem to be at the game while the murder takes place. And it's supposed to look like an accident, but Columbo finds a clue immediately the indicates that it may be otherwise.
This is a very good episode with a couple of holes that come from watching these shows until you practically have them memorized. Believe me, it doesn't take away from the entertainment value.
The big problem here is that there is never a motive given. There are two possible ones: interest in Eric's wife, or Paul has been stealing money of Eric's that he has access to, or has made some deals that benefit him more than Eric, is sick of him, and wants to get rid of him. He would still be manager of the team.
The thing is, it's up to you. People will point out problems in these shows; the viewer can sometimes explain them to his or her own satisfaction. And sometimes, it's a mistake, plain and simple.
These episodes were like feature films and I imagine were churned out fairly quickly, with the most attention paid to how the murder was committed and what clues Columbo would find. And the whole show is Peter Falk dragging some arrogant so and so off to prison anyway. In the end, as long as he does that, we're happy.
"The Most Crucial Game" from season 2 of Columbo stars repeat offender Robert Culp as well as Dean Stockwell and Dean Jagger. Stockwell plays Eric, a young playboy who has inherited money and a football team from his late father and is basically interested in spending the money and fooling around when his wife is out of town.
Culp is Paul Hanlon, the manager of the football team and also in charge of building Eric's portfolio. He calls Eric after a wild party and orders him out of bed and into the pool, so that he's ready to fly that evening to look at a hockey team in Canada.
Paul goes to great lengths to get over to Eric's house and kill him during the game, and yet seem to be at the game while the murder takes place. And it's supposed to look like an accident, but Columbo finds a clue immediately the indicates that it may be otherwise.
This is a very good episode with a couple of holes that come from watching these shows until you practically have them memorized. Believe me, it doesn't take away from the entertainment value.
The big problem here is that there is never a motive given. There are two possible ones: interest in Eric's wife, or Paul has been stealing money of Eric's that he has access to, or has made some deals that benefit him more than Eric, is sick of him, and wants to get rid of him. He would still be manager of the team.
The thing is, it's up to you. People will point out problems in these shows; the viewer can sometimes explain them to his or her own satisfaction. And sometimes, it's a mistake, plain and simple.
These episodes were like feature films and I imagine were churned out fairly quickly, with the most attention paid to how the murder was committed and what clues Columbo would find. And the whole show is Peter Falk dragging some arrogant so and so off to prison anyway. In the end, as long as he does that, we're happy.